Africa

For thousands of years, when storks flew overhead on their way back from Israel, Ethiopian Jews would turn their faces toward the sky and chant, “Shmella, shmella, agarachin Yerusalem behena” — Amharic for “Stork, stork, how is our country Jerusalem doing?” Today the stork is the symbol for Chassida-Shmella, an organization of Ethiopian Jews in… More ▸

Tradition teaches that on Passover, all Jews must embody the experience of Exodus, feeling as if we ourselves have gone through it. For the Karaite Jews from Egypt — a community that rejected rabbinic law from the start — no imagination is required. “Every year at Passover,” says Sara Moussa, who lives in the San… More ▸

The Jewish community is facing resistance as it attempts to intensify pressure on the Sudanese government to ease the violence that has killed tens of thousands. Several Jewish community activists said they were not finding much interest in the issue when they tried to partner with African-American or church groups. Instead, U.S. Jewish groups have… More ▸

For the first time, Israel is sending humanitarian aid to an Arab nation with which it has no ties. The Jewish state has joined the American Jewish World Service, the Union for Reform Judaism, the UJA-Federation of New York and the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest, N.J., in donating $20,000 apiece for an educational project… More ▸

In the Middle East, nothing signals rapprochement quite like a prisoner release. So when Azzam Azzam returned to Israel on Sunday after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reduced his 15-year jail sentence for espionage by half, he brought with him a new sense of diplomatic goodwill that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hopes will last through next… More ▸

The glimmer of gold once drew thousands of prospectors to the Western United States, and the promise of oil has attracted myriad entrepreneurs to the Middle East. But for Jews in the little town of Oudtshoorn, in the middle of the parched “Little Karoo” lands of South Africa, it’s another commodity that once fueled their… More ▸

A group of exiled Libyan Jews living in Italy did not meet as expected with Col. Muammar Gadhafi during a four-day visit to Tripoli last week. But they look forward to doing so in a follow-up visit planned for next month. Delegation member Angelo Mantin said the six-member delegation, and probably several additional people, were… More ▸

In Libya, a land that at times has shown as little hospitality to Jews as its Sahara Desert does to travelers, a visiting Jewish delegation is getting the royal treatment. A group of Libyan Jews who now live in Italy met early Monday afternoon with Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi in Tripoli, according to a statement… More ▸

One year ago, Rina Debach landed at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport after a flight across the Mediterranean from the Libyan capital of Tripoli. On the plane traveling with her were two officials from the Libyan Foreign Ministry. In the arrivals hall to greet Debach were the Italian consul general in Tripoli, and family members who had… More ▸

The coordinated terrorist attacks on Israeli tourists in Sinai may have some significant, unintended consequences: a deepening of anti-terrorism cooperation between Israel and Egypt and greater Egyptian readiness to guarantee security in the Gaza Strip after Israel’s planned withdrawal next summer. At first glance, the Oct. 7 attacks were a blow to Middle Eastern rapprochement…. More ▸